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Brief Introduction ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open

The Lagos International Open Table Tennis Classics sponsored by the Lagos State Government started in 2013 as a pilot tournament has grown in leap and bound with players across the globe gracing the tournament annually. It started as a sanctioned ITTF Tournament under the Lagos Sports Classics and after the successful staging of the 2013 edition, the 2014 edition became an ITTF-certified and ranking competition on the global calendar. It was christened ITTF World Tour 'Lagos Open' as a Challenge Series.

Apart from opening up Lagos State to the world, the tournament has become one of the most sought-after tournament in Africa and the second highest prize money championship in the ITTF Challenge Series. From its inception, the Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium has hosted the tournament with many Lagosians always looking forward to the championship.

Apart from the glamour synonymous with the tournament, economic activities within the environs always pick up before and during the competition. The tournament also portrays the tourism potential of Lagos State to the outside world as the visitors enjoy the serenity and warmness of the state. Apart from opening up Lagos State to the world, the tournament has enjoyed private sector support as companies like PremierBet, Coca Cola among others have been part of the championship in the past four years.

The final matches have been aired live on Supersport to Africa and other regions in the world. However, the 2018 is around the corner and efforts have been put in place by the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to continue to improve the property with various innovations annually.

Journey So Far Seamaster ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open

The Seamaster ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open formerly known as Lagos International Open Table Tennis Classics started in 2013 as a pilot tournament and it has grown in leap and bound with top players gracing the tournament annually. It started as a sanctioned ITTF Tournament under the Lagos Sports Classics and after the successful staging of the 2013 edition, the 2014 edition became an ITTF-certified and ranking competition on the global calendar. It was christened ITTF World Tour 'Lagos Open' as a Challenge Series.

Apart from opening up Nigeria to the world, the tournament has become one of the most sought-after ITTF tournaments in Africa and it is the only elite tournament listed on the ITTF calendar aside continental championships.

"The ITTF Challenge events, we found in our worldwide sports programmes tracker that the Belarus Open, aired on Belarus TV-5 Sports, reached 6.2m of the 6.9 m Belarussians. The Nigeria Open was shown live and non-live on Super Sport 9 and Super Sport Blitz, South African channels as well as on the Pan-African channel Super Sport 5 which was tracked in Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.” “Supersport 9 in South Africa, a PAY-TV channel received by 19.7 per cent of all TV households so it was available to a potential of 8.86 million viewers. As for SuperSport 5, it reached 11.4 per cent or 5.13 million potential viewers. No such information is available for Nigeria (no measurement at all), nor Senegal (a French company just started measuring Dakar, 1.71 m TV users).” - CSM Media Research-KantarSport.

Did you Know

We are the only table tennis tournament in Africa that attracts top class players from more than 20 countries.

The former winners of the tournament have risen to the top echelon of the world ranking with Egypt’s Omar Assar being the specific example. From 56 in the world, Omar Assar is now ranked 16 in the global rating.

The 2017 ITTF Challenge Seamaster Nigeria Open received in excess of 29.35 million viewers over the period of the five-day tournament globally. The tournament achieves the distinction of being the most covered ITTF Challenge Tour tournament of the year, whilst in terms of prize money being second in line to the Spanish Open.

More than 20 countries across the globe broadcast the event.

The ITTF Challenge Nigeria Open tournament has become one of the most sought-after tournaments in Africa and the second highest prize money championship in the ITTF Challenge Series.

The tournament has enjoyed private sector support as companies like PremierBet, Coca Cola among others have been part of the championship in the past four years.

The glamour synonymous with the tournament increases the tourism potential of Lagos State to the outside world as the visitors enjoy the serenity and warmness of the State.